Health Risk from Butter-Flavored Popcorn

Health Risk from Butter-Flavored Popcorn Did you know you can get a condition called popcorn lung from breathing the artificial butter flavoring from microwave popcorn? The artificial butter flavoring is a naturally-occurring chemical called diacetyl. Diacetyl causes no problems in the butter, milk, cheese, beer, and wine where its found, but when vaporized it can cause damage to the bronchioles in the lungs, eventually deteriorating them into the serious irreversible condition called bronchiolitis obliterans. If you nuke a bag of popcorn every now and then, its not a health concern for you, but workers in the factories producing the butter-flavored popcorn are at risk for lung damage, as are consumers who pop a couple of bags of corn daily. I would guess theater concession stand employees would also fall into this category. So, what should you do to avoid lung damage from popcorn? You can avoid popping the butter-flavored corn and then add liquid butter flavoring after the corn has popped or if you absolutely love that flavor of corn (like me), then just dont go crazy. Enjoy it a few times a week at most.​ How Popcorn Pops | Butter Means Something Different in Chemistry

How Freelance Indexers Help Your Book Succeed

How Freelance Indexers Help Your Book Succeed Can Non-Fiction Authors Create Their Own Indexes? Maria Sosnowski has been a freelance indexer for over ten years. In this article, she explains that hiring an indexer to create a professional index is something that many authors neglect:  they either don’t think about an index at all, or they decide that the book doesn’t really need an index. This is a mistake that could cost you access to entire markets.Libraries, Bookstores, and Amazon SalesDo you want your book to sell more easily? A good index is an important feature that librarians will look out for. Some libraries won’t consider purchasing non-fiction books without an index. Readers will often head to the back matter first and browse the index first to see what the book is about; those who want to look up something will go straight to the index. Without indexes, books are seen as less polished, which lowers the chance that a library system will select it for purchase.The same thing is true with bookstores. Buyers will skim the index to see if certain to pics are covered in the book. If they can’t see what they are looking for, they will move on to another title on the shelf. The lack of an index can result in a lack of sales.When you sell your book on Amazon, the Look Inside feature allows buyers to check out sample pages from your book, read the table of contents, and browse the index. A missing index is a missed opportunity to convince someone that your book is exactly what they’re looking for. A missing index is a missed opportunity to tell someone your book is what they’re looking for. And how would you like to optimize your online listing for searches? You can add â€Å"tags† with keywords and phrases to make it easier for Amazon to target the right audience, which will naturally increase book sales. While you can certainly try to create your own tags, an index will naturally contain most of these keywords and phrases. It’s an easy and effective hack! A search function can’t separate the wheat from the chaff. It can’t distinguish between an in-depth discussion and a passing mention of a term. It doesn’t capture synonyms where multiple words are used for the same concept. It doesn’t capture homographs where they same word has different meanings. It doesn’t consider context, either, so it would treat a discussion about Abraham Lincoln just the same as a sentence that uses Lincoln’s term in office to mark the timeline for the real topic.Adding value to your bookSearching provides too many hits, while not providing enough quality hits. There is no analysis in a search. Professional indexers analyze the text as they read, create a structured index with multiple access points into the material in the form of cross-references, and use subheadings to break down the page ranges about a particular topic. They can group related information and concepts together, even when varying terminology is used. Just as important, they will leave out extraneous information, casual mentions of a topic that lack any depth, duplicative material, and other things that would frustrate a reader who’s trying to learn more about your topic. In short, professional indexers raise the value of the book.To find out more about Maria Sosnowski and the other top freelance indexers, head to the Reedsy Marketplace and get a free quote today.If you have any experience about indexing to share, or questions to ask Maria, just drop a message in the comments below.

Data Governance Exercise Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Data Governance Exercise - Coursework Example It was primitively due to the failure of a disc arrival to an east London healthcare centre controlled by the NHS (BBC News, 2007). In relation to the scenario, NHS has faced a major challenge regarding the maintenance of patient information, which has grounded numbers of threats to the organisation along with its stakeholders including patients. In this regard, it is essential for NHS to adopt an effective set of cryptography system in its healthcare units to protect internal data. In response to avert the potential risk of losing data, NHS has been proposed to deploy an effective cryptographic algorithm cipher, ‘Red Pike’. Red Pike is one of the most effective ciphers developed by GCHQ, designed for protecting confidential information of the various kinds of organisations (Anderson & Roe, n.d.). Keeping with the notion of strengthening data security system, the report explores an in-depth understanding about the strengths and weaknesses of Red Pike to protect the internal and operational information of NHS. Moreover, the report also details and evaluates the safety of Red Pike to protect NHS operational information through different theoretical explanations. By the end, the report summarises the competencies of the Red Pike and recommends effective cipher for the organisation to protect internal information from external threats. The encryption of information and structuring them in accordance with the optimisation variety of the users can be considered as a major strength of Red Pike. The cryptographic characteristics of the cipher is designed with an exceptional form of coding that significantly protects unwanted guests and allows its users to gain the advantage of the cipher. The cryptographic algorithm of characteristics of the classified Red Pike provides major advantage to the users and organisations to analyse faults associated with the data security system. In this context, the

Alternatives to Incarceration Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Alternatives to Incarceration - Assignment Example Historically, this has not always been true following some inmates serving time for their third or even fourth time. This shows that the system on itself is not very efficient because any form of punishment should be aimed at punishing and also rectifying the offender. In addition, the idea of serving time in prison has been the norm to most criminals who have previously served time. Some of the incarcerations act as reunions of the offenders with their friends and acquaintances already in there. Adding to the reasons is the increase rate of corruption which make it possible for ‘well of’ individuals serving time in prison make deals with the prison guards enabling them still to run their business and gangs while still in confinement. This, therefore, shows the level of inefficient in the incarceration system. Herivel & Wright (2009) clearly show the level of corruption in the criminal system and who profits from mass incarceration. Economically, the cost of constructing and running these confinement facilities is usually very high. According to Petteruti et al. (2009), the average cost of maintaining an inmate held in state-funded, post-adjudication and residential facilities is $240.99 per day. This translates to huge sums of tax-payers’ money that could be used elsewhere if cheaper and effective forms of punishments were used instead. Furthermore, this act of imprisonment directly results to societal poverty. For instance, the detachment of supposed income earners or bread winners from their family also creates an economic challenge. Those left by the convict must adjust and learn to live without the convict’s contributions. This can lead to increased crime rate as those left behind try to satisfy their basic needs. Besides, the conviction of individuals lowers their chances of resuming their current jobs or even getting any jobs at all leads to a cycle of poverty in the

Definitions of HRM Essay Example for Free

Definitions of HRM Essay Introduction and Overview Definitions of HRM. The employment relationship. Commitment and control. Internal fit. Textbook: Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright (2012) Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage. Chapter 1, pp. 2-68. Examples of exam questions: How and why has the role of the HR department been changing in Western firms since the 1980s? How far and for what reasons would you agree that the debate over the differences between HRM and personnel management is all hot air? Lecture 2 Analysis and Design of Work Job analysis; Job design; employee involvement; quality circles; team working Textbook: Competitive Advantage. Chapter 4, pp. 154-190. Examples of exam questions: Who benefits from employee involvement? Compare quality circles and team working with regards to their impact on the economic outcomes of a company. Lecture 3 Personnel Selection Selection criteria, Big-5 personality dimensions, selection methods, predictive validity, reliability Textbook: Competitive Advantage. Chapter 6, pp. 230-267. Examples of past exam questions: Critically discuss the use of interviews as a primary basis for selection decisions. What criteria should be considered in selecting new employees to support firm performance? How do interviews fare in evaluating these criteria? Lecture 4 Performance appraisal Competitive Advantage. Chapter 8, 338-393. Examples of past exam questions: Critically evaluate performance appraisal at work. What are the purposes of conducting performance appraisals? How might appraisals differ depending on the purpose? Lecture 5 Pay Systems Content of pay systems; selecting pay systems; pay and firm performance; pay outcomes for employees. Textbook: Competitive Advantage. Chapter 1 1, pp. 0-519. Examples of exam questions: Which factors should HR managers take into account in designing a fair pay system? Evaluate options for the design of pay systems for different employee groups. Lecture 6 Human Resource Planning, Flexibility and Turnover Human resource planning; the model of the flexible firm; contingent employment; temporary work; employee turnover Textbook: Competitive Advantage. Chapt er 5, pp. 191-211 and Chapter 10, pp. 440-478. Examples ot exam questions: Temporary agency workers are hired to protect the employment security of the core workforce. Discuss critically. Contingent workers facilitate the use of high commitment management systems. Discuss. Lecture 7 Strategic Human Resource Management: Best Practices vs. Best Fit Strategic HRM; models of HRM; best practice and business strategy models Textbook: Competitive Advantage. Chapter 2, pp. 70-105. Examples of exam questions: Evaluate the relationship between the business and the human resource management strategy of a firm. Contrast and evaluate the concepts of horizontal and vertical fit in human resource management. Lecture 8 Strategic HRM: The Resource- ased View and Stakeholder Models Continuation of lecture 7: strategic HRM; resource-based view; institutional / stakeholder perspectives on HRM Textbook: To what extent do managers have a strategic choice with regards to human resource management? Critically discuss the implications of the resource-based view of the firm for designing HRM strategies. Lecture 9 Equal Employment Opportunities Competitive Advantage. Chapter 3, pp. 106-153. Examples of past exam questions: Do women have equal opportunities at work? What actions might employers take to address any inequalities? Evaluate human capital theoretical explanations of the gender earnings gap. Lecture 10 Industrial Relations Introduction to industrial relations; purposes of collective organization; effects of unions; recent trends in industrial relations Textbook: Competitive Advantage. Chapter 14, pp. 598-647. Examples of exam questions: What are the consequences of a lack of effective worker representation, be it through trade unions or some other form of worker representation at the workplace? Why do workers Join trade unions and what are the effects of union activity? How has this changed in liberal market economies in recent years?

The Benefits of the Statehood for Puerto Rico :: essays research papers

Benefits of the statehood for Puerto Rico The intention of this essay is to demonstrate to a vision rational, concordant political leader to the Puerto Rican, American and worldwide reality. It responds to the necessity that to the statehood it is necessary to imagine it and to expose it with all the evidence available, since many Puerto Ricans, including many political leaders, do not know like defending it or exposing it before the peculiar ones or our adversaries. Puerto Rico is smallest and Eastern of the Greater Antilles. The north of Venezuela has left approximately to 500 miles, 80 miles to the east of the Spanish, and to 1.200 miles to the Southeastern of the city of Miami, in the North American state of Florida. The U.S.A. annexed to Puerto Rico to the closing of the Hispano-American War, in 1898. Within the American constitutional system, Puerto Rico is considered a "territory organized, not incorporated." This adjustment, formulated by the Supreme Court of the U.S.A. in a series of opinions known like the Insulars Decisions there by year 1903, treats to Puerto Rico like a foreign property of the U.S.A. in terms of internal relations, but like part of the North American national territory before the international law. In order to complicate the things, like not-incorporated territory, Puerto Rico never it was put in automatic route towards a possible statehood since it they have been all the other incorporated territories, as it they have not either been the other not-incorporated territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Marianas Islands of the North. Confused contradictory and, the situation have been evolving gradually to one of gradual integration of Puerto Rico with the U.S.A. The legal and constitutional evolution of the law and precedents that has been accumulated through the years from the promulgation of the Insulars Decisions have tended to treat to Puerto Rico more and more like a state federated in very many areas of their political and economic subjects, except in the most important subject of their last sovereignty. Why he would be to him advantageous to the U.S.A. to admit to Puerto Rico like state? A political reason - the American generation founding, who underwent in own meat the colonial humiliation, never contemplated that his newborn Republic it became a colonial power. The one is implicit in the American Constitution that all territory acquired by the U.S.A. is directed to a possible statehood.

How Children Utilize Their Mathematical Mind as Part of Their Natural Progression Essay

â€Å"Dr Maria Montessori took this idea that the human has a mathematical mind from a French philosopher Pascal and developed a revolutionary math learning material for children as young as 3 years old. Her mathematical materials allow the children to begin their mathematical journey from a concrete concept to abstract idea†. With reference to the above statement please discuss how these children utilize their mathematical mind as part of their natural progression, to reason, to calculate and estimate with these Montessori mathematical materials in conjunction with their aims and presentations? What is a mathematical mind? The Mathematical Mind’ refers to the unique tendencies of the human mind. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal said that ‘every human being is born with a mathematical mind’. Dr. Montessori borrowing this concept, further explained that the mathematical mind is the â€Å"sort of mind which is built up with ‘exactitude’†. â€Å"In our work therefore, we have given a name to this part of the mind which is built up with exactitude, and we call it the ‘mathematical mind’. I take the term from Pascal, the French Philosopher, Physicist and Mathematician, who said that the man’s mind was mathematical by nature, and that knowledge and progress came from accurate observation.† – Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 17, Pg. 169 She said the qualities of a mathematical mind was such that always tends to estimate; needs to quantify, to see identity, similarity, difference, and patterns to make order and sequence. The concepts within the mathematical mind do not simply refer to common associations with math, such as basic operations. Instead, Montessori believed that the human tendencies lead one to be mathematical in thought. That is, basic human tendencies such as order, orientation, exactness, repetition, activity, and manipulation of objects, all lead to the development of a mathematical process of thought. â€Å"The child perceives, without conscious reasoning, patterns of relationships: things to things, things to people, pe ople to people†¦ The mathematical mind [therefore] is a power to organize, classify and quantify within the context of our life experience† Mathematics is not only about additions or subtractions a child learns at the school, it is all around the child from the day he is born (or may be well before that). It is a well known fact that an embryo can hear its mother. So the mother says â€Å"the baby kicked me twelve times today† or  Ã¢â‚¬Å"my delivery is within another two weeks† when he was in her stomach. And then after he was born he may hear ‘you were born on the second’ or ‘at eight you go to the bed’ or ‘one button is missing in your pajama shirt’ or in the society he may be questioned ‘how many sisters or brothers do you have?’ etc., A child’s day to day life is all connected with mathematics and all the basic conversations he has is very much involved with mathematics. In that case the child is born to a world that is full of math, created by human for their benefits and the child needs to adapt to it. Children need math to sort, categorize and group things within his environment. They need to count, they need to learn the time and then gradually they need to work with arithmetic’s, geometry and algebra in the school when they grow up. â€Å"We must convey to the child the belief that we have made mathematics ourselves, and that we re-make it every time we move, think, work or play. We should help the child understand that it is simply part of our being human to have a mathematical mind†. – Gettman D, BASIC MONTESSORI, Chapter 1, Page 159. Teaching mathematics to a young Montessori child is not a difficult task as he is very much exposed to numbers during his day to day life. By the time they enter into the Montessori school most of them are able to count one to ten (we call this â€Å"rote counting†, they just count without knowing the real meaning of the counting). Even in the prepared environment, though the child does not directly work with the mater ials within the math shelf as he enters, he however indirectly learns math concepts such as repetition, calculation, exactness, fraction, estimation and classification and most importantly order through the practical life activities. A significant discovery that Dr. Montessori made was the importance of offering indirect preparation for the math materials while children were in the sensitive periods for movement and the refinement of the senses. It is through children’s work with the Exercises of Practical Life and Sensorial materials that they first encounter and experience the concepts of measurement, sequence, exactness, and calculation Sensorial education is the basis of mathematics. Dr. Montessori said that children are sensorial learners. They learn and experience the world through their five senses. So sensorial education helps the child to create a mental order of the concepts he grasps using his five senses. â€Å"The skill of man’s hand is bound up with the development of his mind, and in the light of history we  see it connected with the development of civilization.† – Maria Montessori, THE ABSORBENT MIND, Chap 14. pg. 138 Montessori firmly believed that the ‘handsâ €™ are the mother of skills. By providing Montessori sensorial materials to the child she was convinced that correct manipulation with quality and quantity would certainly create a lasting impression in the child’s mind with the understanding of mathematics. We place materials quite intentionally on trays, we color code activities, materials are displayed in a logical sequence, and we break down movements during presentations into series of sequential steps. The sensorial materials simply present three mathematics concepts of completeness, geometry and early algebra. Dr. Montessori was convinced that there are two things to be introduced before working with mathematics. â€Å"Before beginning mathematics work, the child must therefore do two things: explore and accept the notion of idealized things with isolated qualities, and gain practice in the requisite intellectual.† – MMI Mathematics Course Manual pg. 6 The child’s intellectual skills are developed through both practical life and sensorial activities. In practical life activities, children practice calculation skills when determining how much water to pour when carrying out exercises like pouring water from jug to bottle with an indicator line, or spooning beans from bowl to bowl with an indicator line, or from jug to jug; up to the more complex activities of sweeping which have the qualities of repetition, calculation and exactness. The Sensorial work is a preparation for the study of sequence and progression. It helps the child build up spatial representations of quantities and to form images of their magnitudes such as with the Pink Tower, knobbed cylinder etc. These sensorial materials also provides the child with the skills of calculation with the pink tower and red rods; as the child judges the size and length of the cubes and rods respectively, as well as repetition with baric tablets etc., All of the materials in the Montessori classroom have been specifically designed to attract the interest of the student, while at the same time teaching an important concept. The purpose of each material is to isolate a certain concept the child is bound to discover. The Montessori maths program is divided into parts to facilitate a sequential and gradual progress in the maths concepts starting from simple to complex. During circle time, informal  activities or games are introduced to initiate complex maths concepts like seriation, one-to-one correspondence, sorting and more in the simplest way. Without counting or even uttering a number name, the child is actually introduced to maths through preliminary maths activities. Dr. Montessori also said, ‘what the hand does the mind remembers’. The very first math material to be presented to the child is the number rods. Number rods are very concrete and help the child to feel and understand meaningful counting. It is also not very new to the child as he has already worked with the red rods before. The only difference is number rods are colour coded with red and blue, which helps the child to visually discriminate the difference in length and then to count the rod. The teacher presents the material by a three period lesson, and by repeating the same activity again and again, the child understands that two means two things and three means t hree things and so on and so forth. The aim of the number rod is to help the child Learn the names of numbers 1-10 and visually associate the numbers with the quantity as well as to show that each number is represented by a single object, as a whole, separate from others. The number rods help the child memorize the sequence of numbers from 1 to 10. When the child counts one rod as a single unit, he immediately notices an increment in the number rod â€Å"2† even though it is still a single unit thereby helping him to associate the numbers to the quantity. â€Å"Rarely, however, can he count with certainty the fingers of one hand, and when he does succeed, in doing this, there is always the difficulty of knowing why,†¦The extreme exactness and correctness of a child’s mind need clear and precise help. When numerical rods are given to children, we see them even the smallest take a lively interest in counting.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child, Chapter 18, pg. 265 . â€Å"The satisfaction of discovery leads to an enthusiastic interest in numbers when the child is able to demonstrate the fundamental mathematical operations, rather than simply being told seemingly dull and meaningless facts. He physically holds the quantities that he sees represented by written symbols. He combines the materials, counts, separates and compares them while visually grasping and reinforcing the ideas in a way that is concrete, rather than abstract.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..Teaching Montessori at Home. Now the child is working with the concrete materials to understand the quantities of numerals one to ten and then he knows the written symbols too. The next step is to teach him how to combine the quantities with the written symbols. This is done through a set of fun games. The Teacher invites the child to bring the number cards and the rods to the mat and then gets the child to identify the concrete value (the rod) first and then find and match the number card with the rod. Next the teacher requests the child to identify the number cards randomly and match them with the rods. This activity helps the teacher to observe how thoroughly the child is familiar with the numbers. The next two games help the child to understand the sequence of numbers. When the numbers and the rods are randomly scattered on the mat, the teacher requests the child to identify the number rods in sequence and then match the numbers with it and build the stair then in the next activity the child identifies the number cards in sequence and then matches with the respective rods and builds the stair. The aims of these exercises is to establish the child in the recognition of numerical symbols 1-10., as well as help him learn association of quantity to symbol and also help the child understand quantity and sequence of numbers using manipulatives. Once the child is very clear with numerals one to ten, the next step is to teach the decimal system. Decimals are introduced to the child with the concrete manipulation using the golden beads. Through a three period lesson, the child is introduced to one, ten, hundred and thousand. The child feels and sees what one means by a small unit and then sees that ten is a long bar and then hundred is a flat square of ten ten-bars bound together and finally the thousand is a cube made up of ten 100 squares. The child can visually discriminate the difference in the sizes of different value and then feels it too. ‘Counting through’ helps them to further internalize the concept of decimal system. The teacher counts up to nine units and t hen says ‘if we have one more unit we will have a ten bar’. So this helps the child to understand that to make ten we need ten units. Then to make hundred we need ten ten-bars and then finally the thousand cube is made out of ten hundred-squares. The great deal begins with the decimal system operations. Here the child is introduced to additions, subtractions, multiplications and divisions. The child learns the exact abstract way of additions or subtractions using the golden beads and large and small number banks. All these activities are teacher directed and working with these activities, helps the child understand that addition means combining two  amounts together and then have a big amount at last; that subtractions means giving some amount away from what he had and then what remains is a small amount; that multiplication means having the same amount in to different numbers of times and gets a large amount as the answer; and finally, that divisions are giving the amount away equally or unequally among two or three people. These operations are very concrete to the child since he sees and manipulates the materia l. After manipulating with the concrete materials, the child moves to the abstract counting. Using the large number cards, the teacher introduces the written symbols of power of ten (the decimal system). Then moves to the ‘counting through’ with the written symbols. Once the child is through with quantities and the written symbols the teacher shows the child to link concrete with abstract making the ‘Bird’s eye view’. Through the bird’s eye view the child can clearly see the process of the quantity increases with the written symbols. It gives the child the sensorial impression that when the symbol increases from one to ten, ten to hundred and hundred to thousand value of the quantity also goes higher. The aim of introducing the decimal system, is to help the child understand the concept of ten, learn the composition of numbers as well as the place value system and their equivalencies. After the decimal system operations, the child progresses to informal recording. By this time, the child knows the numbers very well and he is familiar w orking with sums too. The informal recording introduces the child to small number rods. In the first presentation, he is concretely introduced to composition keeping ten as a guide and showing him how to make ten using rods up to six. Decomposition is also equally concrete, first he makes ten and then takes one away the child sees he is left with nine. During this presentation, the symbols of plus, minus and equal to, are also introduced and in the second presentation he is introduced to recording. The teen board is introduced to the child when he is through with the decimal system. It is also called ‘linear counting’. The short bead stairs varying in colour and quantity (one is red, two is green, three is pink, four is yellow, five is light blue, six is purple, seven is white, eight is brown and nine is deep blue) The coloured bead bars show clearly the separate entities from 1 to 9 and the ten-bars are the main concrete materials involved with the linear counting. First of all, the child learns to build the short bead stair and then combines the short bead  stairs with ten bars to teach the names of quantities eleven to nineteen. When the child understands the names of values, the written symbols are introduced through the ‘sequin board A’. Similarly the names of quantities from ten to ninety are also introduced and then the ‘sequin board B’ is used to teach the abstract concept of written symbols. The hundred and thousand bead chains reinforce the child’s counting from one to a thousand and also helps the teacher to evaluate child’s standards with understanding counting. The coloured bead bars show clearly the separate entities from 1 to 9, in combination with the tens they show the child that numbers 11 to 19 are made of ten and a number 1 to 9 The purpose of introducing the child to the linear counting exercises is to develop the child’s ability to recognize and count to any number. As well as learn skip counting. The child’s own sound knowledge of the numbers 1 to 10 and their numerical order acts as a guide â€Å"This system in which a child is constantly moving objects with his hands and actively exercising his senses, also takes into account a child’s special aptitude for mathematics. When they leave the material, the children very easily reach the point where they wish to write out the operation. They thus carry out an abstract mental operation and acquire a kind of natural and spontaneous inclination for mental calculations.† – Montessori M., The Discovery Of The Child, Chapter 19, pg. 279 BIBLIOGRAPHY Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Montessori Pierson Publishing Company, the Netherlands, Reprinted 2007 Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child, Montessori Pierson Publishing Company, the Netherlands, Reprinted 2007 Modern Montessori Institute, DMT 107 Mathematics Students’ Manual David Gettman, Basic Montessori, Saint Martin’s Press, 1987 Elizabeth Hainstock, Teaching Montessori in the Home, Random House Publishing Group, 2013

Circumcision in South African Males vs Phillipino Males Essay

Compare and contrast the attitudes, beliefs and perspectives around a specific health issue amongst two different population groups, and consider the implications of this for clinical or community practice. Introduction A controversial health issue around the world is male circumcision. Male circumcision is the removal of part of or the entire foreskin on the penis and is a controversial topic in many countries and across many different religions. In this essay the beliefs, attitudes and perspectives of South African men will be compared those of Filipino men about medical male circumcision and traditional male circumcision. Traditional circumcisions are usually performed outside of formal medical settings by providers who have a special training but are not health care professionals. Medical circumcision alternatively is performed by a medical professional in a medical setting. According to the world health organisation (WHO), 30% of men worldwide have been circumcised, mostly in developing countries where it takes place for religious and cultural reasons (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2007a). Male circumcision is an important issue, especially in South Africa and the Philippines, as third world countries as it can be uses as a partial preventative measure against HIV infection. Description of population groups The two population groups I chose were South African men and Filipino men. I chose South African men as one of my population groups because while studying circumcision I noticed there was a lot of literature on the topic in relation to South Africa and surrounding nations and the effects it has on preventing HIV transmission. I found this population group interesting because in South Africa even though there is clear benefits in reducing HIV transmission and great publicity around the benefits only 35% of men were circumcised (WHO, 2007a). Furthermore in researching this topic I discovered multiple reasons why men chose to get circumcised, one reason was purely so they weren’t uncircumcised witch I found strange. This was the case in the Philippines, where 90% of all men are circumcised, and most saying there reason for being circumcised was so they weren’t uncircumcised (Lee, 2006). I found this reasoning interesting and decided to explore this culture for my second population group. If circumcision can reduce the chances of transmitting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases as well as reduce penile cancer it is important to understand different cultures beliefs and attitudes toward the procedure to encourage circumcision within the culture. It is also good to understand why some cultures have such high rate of circumcision compared to other cultures and countries as it may help develop strategies to promote circumcision countries with lower rates. South Africa In South Africa 57. 2% of circumcised men had traditional circumcisions and 42. 8% were medically circumcised (Connolly, Simbayi, Shanmugam, & Nqeketo, 2008). Amongst this circumcised population, the majority of the medically circumcised men were white (97. 8%) or Indian (92. 8%), compared with traditional circumcision which was mostly Black South Africans (Connolly et al. , 2008). In South Africa, more specifically within the Black South African community circumcision is done for religious and cultural reasons (Peltzer & Kanta, 2009). It is seen as a ritual that marks the passage from boyhood to manhood for the adolescent. The process usually requires boys to spend about a month in induction camps in seclusion away from women and outsiders. If they fail there initiation into man hood they are believed to be stuck as a boy for the rest of their life. The ritual is considered by the community as a sacred custom (Peltzer & Kanta, 2009). Traditionally this ritual involved traditional circumcisions and traditional initiation, however more recently some communities have allowed medical circumcision followed by traditional initiation into manhood. However there is a hostile relationship between men who were traditionally circumcised and men who were medically circumcised. While most men acknowledge medical circumcision is safer and know the benefits it has in helping prevent HIV and sexually transmitted disease, they fear that they will be ridiculed by peers and stigmatised as â€Å"cowards† and not viewed as â€Å"real men† for having the procedure done under anaesthesia (Peltzer & Kanta, 2009, p. 91). They believe that the pain makes the boys courageous, strong men and is a passage into manhood, where they can have a wife and kids. Philippines On the other hand, in the Philippines very few men are circumcised for religious or cultural reasons. Boys are usually circumcised between the ages of five and eighteen with most being circumcised between ten and fourteen (Lee, 2006). Most boys report being circumcised just so they are not uncircumcised, to avoid teasing and stigma in the community. Many Filipino men believe women prefer circumcised males, and therefor to be masculine and have a wife and children it is preferable to be circumcised. Similar to South African beliefs Filipino boys become circumcised because they do not want to be seen as â€Å"cowards† for not having the courage to go through the pain and anxiety associated with the process (Lee, 2006, p. 228). Filipino men also report getting circumcised because it was their parent’s orders or they were threatened with a beating if they chose not to or because it was just normal for a boy his age to and his friends were getting it done. Many men report being nervous for the procedure but excited to achieve the man hood they have anticipated. Most of the Filipino men submit to this social culture because they want to be seen as masculine and not as a coward. It is a social phenomenon, propelled by individuals need to conform and gain acceptance through this procedure by acquiring a range of masculine related traits and opportunities (Lee, 2006). Comparison of population groups While the two countries have different religions and cultural views, the striking similarity between the two population groups is that they both view the practice of circumcision and the pain and anxiety associated with this process as empowering to the men. Fulfilment of this ritual enhances psycho-social health because it frees them of ridicule and stigma as a â€Å"coward† (Lee, 2006, p. 228). Being circumcised means men from both cultures are considered masculine and therefore allows them to carry out tasks that are believed to be masculine such as having a family. However circumcision in South Africa is seen as a rite of passage and a sacred ritual that allows boys to become me and usually occurs later in life around the age of seventeen to twenty-one but even as late as twenty-six (Mavundla, Netswera, Bottoman, & Toth, 2009). Whereas, in the Philippines the procedure is more of a social trend, done because everyone else is getting it performed. It is also performed much earlier, most commonly between the age of ten and fourteen in the Philippines. South Africa have a more spiritual and deeper reasoning for having the procedure done, men display a deeper more conscious reasoning for having the procedure compared to Filipino men, who tend to follow the social trend (Mavundla et al. , 2009). With so many Filipino men circumcised (90%) the social trend hold strong and the even with new information about risks and benefits the majority continue to get the procedure done (Lee, 2009), while in South Africa with more information coming out more people are opting for medical circumcision with over 130 000 medical circumcisions being performed in 2010 (WHO, 2011). There is a growing trend in South Africa to have medical circumcision, whereas in the Philippines the process in considered outside the general realm of medicine and therefore is not performed in medical settings. While they have different culture and beliefs, and go about performing the procedure differently there main motive to be masculine is common amongst both population groups. Conclusion The advantages associated with being circumcised show great potential to help lower the rates of HIV and sexually transmitted disease in South Africa if more men are circumcised. The cultural transition into manhood is a barrier to overcome as medical circumcision is believed to interfere with this process. If however medical circumcision became more of a social norm as it is viewed in the Philippines, more boys would be inclined to have the procedure to fit in with the rest of the community.  The social normality of the process seems to have a greater influence on boy’s preference then cultural or religious reasons, as 90% of Filipino men are circumcised compared to 35% of South African men (Lee, 2006; WHO, 2007a). Guidelines South Africa: * Conducting community based education and information sessions on the health risks and problems associated with traditional circumcision, and how allowing medical circumcision followed by traditional initiation can reduce these risks. Train more male nurses who can perform the circumcision since most nurses in South Africa are female and boys going through initiation are not allowed contact with women because if they see women during this time they fail there initiation into man hood. * Understand the community’s rationale for the ritual circumcision and work with the community to find alternative solutions together, and trying to help reduce the stigma associated with men being medically circumcised with alternative ays to prove their strength. Philippines: * Developing circumcision clinics throughout the Philippines where boys can have the procedure performed in proper hygienic conditions. * Giving boys information about the risks and benefits of the procedure so they can more meaningfully decide to have to procedure done * Explain the procedure, and offer pain medication so that boy don’t have to feel so nervous about what is happening and have a better understanding of what going to happen.

Media Industry and Management in India essays

Media Industry and Management in India essays The growth of communication from sign language and drumbeats to the instantaneous transmission of words and pictures round the globe via satellite is a long and fascinating story. After Gutenbergs invention of the movable printing press in 1468 and the emergence of newspapers thereafter, we saw the first signs of mass media. The world witnessed major breakthroughs like the first black and white photograph by Fox Talbot in England in1939, the development of electric telegraphy in 1850s, the first movie by the Lumiere Brothers in Paris 1895, the invention of the phonograph by Edison in 1896, the wireless radio by Marconi in 1912 and the first regular television sets and transmission in 1936. Today, media has become a social institution whose main function it is to inform, analyse and entertain. It is dictated by societal norms and is a mirror of the prevalent cultures and thought processes. It includes within its gamut, various channels of communication like newspapers, magazines, television channels, radio stations, the Internet, news agencies, publishing houses, etc. These media organisations together form the media industry. One characteristic of the media industry is that it functions as a people to people dynamic chain. Organisation and proper management of this industry is, therefore, essential for success as well as survival. This means the effective application of management principles and techniques through the process of planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling. Media organisations thus create organisational systems and structures to enable speed and efficiency of all operations. Keeping these requirements in mind, let us focus on an important component of the media industry - the news agency. The following aspects will be dealt with The Big Five news agencies Role and importance of news agencies Organisational structure, reve...

How To Get A High-Traffic Blog, Even If Youre Blogging Solo

How To Get A High-Traffic Blog, Even If Youre Blogging Solo Ive been solo blogging for over 12 years. I have seen the enemy. It is us. Yeah, I have come face-to-face with a few challenges in that time. And yes, you  are absolutely going to recognize these three core problems: Random and irregular publishing.  What to publish? When? Why? Whee. Publishing something worth reading. Havent published in a few weeks.  This crappy post will have to do. Letting other people know I just published something. Only my mother has commented on my post. No one is reading! You could say the same for team blogs, too, except with a team blog you have others to help publish, edit, designblame. When its just you, you have to make it all happen on your own. How Solo Bloggers Can Publish More Regularly Random and sporadic publishing results in much less traffic than you could have if you published more reliably (and more often). Have a look at this bar graph from seven days of traffic on my own blog. Which day do you think I published a blog post? Its not a huge difference, but it is a noticeable one. When you blog, more people come and read. You have to publish to get visitors.All the drafts, ideas, or SEO magic in the world wont help you if you do not publish blog posts.  Blogger Kevin Duncan recently (and humorously) shared his findings  on what happened when he blogged every day. What did he discover? No surprises here. He found that by publishing on his blog daily, he had: An 84% increase in the social shares of his blog posts. A 119% increase in comments on his content. A steady bounce rate (meaning he didnt trade low traffic for more visitors that left quickly) A 46% increase in traffic in general. Heck, publishing every day must be the solution! Maybe twice a day! Noooo. A team blog might be able to publish every day, but thats asking a lot of a solo blogger, particularly if youre really into long-form content. Maybe youre a real whiz kid, and you can pull it off, but most of us cant keep that kind of publishing schedule up on a regular basis, particularly if you have a full-time job or freelance clients to attend to. So no. This isnt an admonition to blog every day.  Please, lets not mistake the problem of  haphazard publishing with one demanding daily publishing. At the end of Duncans experiment, despite the increase in traffic and shares, he realized that kind of schedule was too demanding on him, and that it left him little time to promote or build social proof.  It is possible to publish regularlyonce a week. Or twice a week. In fact, regular publishing has no numerical definition. It just has two qualities that need to be met: 1. You publish on a regular schedule so people know what to expect. Do I know who my audience is? (distracted and want something new every few days vs. reading once a week is fine) Do I know what is expected or typical of my niche? (breaking news every hour vs. nothing changes in a decade) Have I created categories that I can regularly write on? (giving each category equal attention) 2. You publish on a regular schedule so you dont find yourself forgetting to publish. How much time do I have to create new content? (get a calendar, look at the clock, and do the math) How many words can I handle per post? (sit down, write a few posts without fussing, and see what your typical word count seems to be) Do I have a list of headlines ready to go? Have I brainstormed ideas before hand? (planning ahead is hard if you dont have anything to work with to put on your calendar) Regular publishing is for your audience and for you. The first is for building trust, and the latter is for building a habit. Planning to get things done is not the same as planning HOW  to get things done. How can help: is an editorial calendar, and editorial calendars are a fantastic way to set up this kind of regular blogging. You have to make the decision on how often youll blog and what about, but you can use an editorial calendar to help you make it happen. has features that seem geared towards teams, but I use them as a solo blogger with great effect when planning. For this stage, where Im laying out the plan to help me publish regularly, I use s tasks. They serve as reminders of things I need to do for each posts. I get email reminders and can track them in my account. Whichever tools you decide to use, an editorial calendar will help. Weve created a free comprehensive guide on how to use an editorial calendarwith printable starter sheetsand it works great for solo bloggers! How Solo Bloggers Can Publish  Something Worth Reading Pursuing great content is like pursuing the golden fleece. It is fraught with disagreement and terror. 1. Define what is worth reading. You're going to be frustrated if you don't know what you consider great content. Great content isn't what everyone else is doing, and frankly, great content isn't necessarily what gets shared the most on social media (headlines have a huge part in that). If you aren't into data or don't care for scientific research, don't go chasing after posts with headlines like "How To Choose The Best Diaper, Backed By Science." Determining this is similar to writing a mission statement for your blog. For my blog, I set up a rubric that goes something like this: Does it help or hurt people? Does it encourage or discourage people? (Sometimes helpful content, depending on how it is relayed, can be discouraging.) Will people feel something after having read it? (laugh, thoughtful, sad, etc.) Have I written the best I am able to at this moment? (I might be embarrassed a year from now, but I shouldn't be embarrassed now.) Is it original to the best of my ability? (i.e. not purposefully aping other bloggers) Is it somehow a part of my larger story? (for a personal blog, this is fairly easy) Am I being overly sensational or making linkbait? (after awhile, you'll get backlash) Come up with your own rubric. Define what you think is good writing for you and your niche. 2. Do good writing. The mechanics of your writing should be top notch. Your research (if it applies to your style of post) should be impeccable and from good sources. You should take the time to proof and edit your posts as best you can, even though you don't have a proofreader. You should be familiar with writing techniques, like storytelling or journalism, as best you can. 3. Don't forget the extras. Once the writing is in place, you have the extras, like graphics and photos. Because you don't have a team designer, you need to find a way to create images for your posts on your own. Use apps geared for non-designers and create graphics for your posts. Rethink how you use stock imagery and consider coming up with viable alternatives. How can help:  The comments section of each post works great with teams, but it's also fantastic for solo bloggers. I use it to store research, links, images, and ideas for posts. Often, post ideas come to me in a rush and while I don't have the time to write a full draft, I can at least write down the gist of the idea. I put it in the comments section, and whenever I decide to write the post, I have a strong foundation to build on. How Solo Bloggers Can Get An Audience You can publish regularly, and you can publish Pulitzer quality material, but you're not out of the woods yet. Merely publishing is only 1/3 of the solo blogging story. Search engines and the whims of fate and the kindness of your mom might bring some readers to your site, but it's not bringing in as many as you could be. The truth is that regular publishing brings more traffic, but that's often because we publicize our new blog posts on social media and that brings in traffic. This is why you don't have to blog every day, but you must promote every day.

The view on 'a management revolution' presented by Gary Hamel Essay

The view on 'a management revolution' presented by Gary Hamel - Essay Example Proper management is essential if organizations are to run effortlessly and achieve their purposes. It is through management that humankind has grown tremendously over the years. However, the tools of management on which this model is built have been in use since the 19th century, with a few changes if any While organizations remain stagnated on this old management model, the business environment, and the entire world, has fully revolutionized (Chizema & Kim, 109, 2010). Since the business environment continues to change, managing continuity should be imperative to all organizations to develop a connection between the realities of past, present, and future (Kolb, 183, 2003). With markets opening beyond national borders, and business processes becoming faster and more flexible, business organizations have been forced to adapt to a model more suitable for the 21st century (Burgelman & Grove, 965, 2007). However, Gary Hamel (2009) calls for an entire revolutionary change of the current management model. In his article entitled ‘Moon shots for management’, he says, â€Å"The evolution of management has traced a classic S-curve,† and goes on to argue that a new management model must be invented for the new age. New challenges The current management model is vertically structured with precisely defined roles for every level and is guided by set rules and procedures (Pye & Pettigrew, 153, 2005). In the current business environment, effective change is achieved when a firm has an organized pattern of decisions that guide deployment of resources in response to environmental changes (strategy) and a mechanism that turns this strategy into output (organization) (Nadler &Tushman, 204, 1989). Overcoming challenges entail changing the entire organizational culture by setting new goals, visions, missions, values, and strategies (Sisaye, 176, 2000).Even though culture is complicated, differentiated and difficult to control, it should be manipulated to encom pass a deep level of unconscious basic assumptions manifested in shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and creations (Harris and Ogbonna, 32, 2002). In order to overcome these challenges, Hamel postulates that business executives â€Å"must face the fact that â€Å"tomorrow’s business imperatives lay outside the performance envelope of today’s bureaucracy-infused management practices.† . Little is known about the strategy making processes at the top level of companies (Dewally & Peck, 38, 2010). A broader insight into the leadership structure of a company is needed as part of a broader attempt to remodel management (Pye & Pettigrew, 28, 2005). In organizations, governance and decision-making is dependent on bargaining between the board of directors and CEO. This is characterized by covert and overt use of power and influence (Daily, Dalton & Canella 2003). This drive should be towards an open, inclusive, and democratic organizational form (Mintzberg, 43, 1994). Th e top management executives should adopt an inclusive management style (Liedtka, 120, 1998). The Moon Shots In May 2008, Gary outlined 25 critical points that he felt should be adopted by business organizations as a way of reinventing management to better suit the present. Hamel was keen to point out that these moon shots were not exhaustive. From the moon shots, companies first have to redefine their goals. Clear redefinition of goals must encompass building human capital and engendering employee engagement (Davenport & Larding, 259, 2010). With the current management set up, companies are encouraged to adopt management practices that are socially beneficial. Today’s corporate governance structures promote the interests of some groups while oppresses others. In many cases, the senior executives and the shareholders benefit while employees and the local communities suffer (Zerbe, Hartel & Ashkanasy, 149, 2008). This is due to existence of a large gap between leadership and ch ange management. These leaders have a high charismatic